Photokina News: Introducing the Fujifilm GFX 50S

The company has shown a GFX 50S mirrorless camera body, and says that by the end of the first year the system will have a range of six GF lenses.

Fujifilm GFX 50S

The GFX 50S will use a customised version current 51.4MP medium format sensor, measuring 43.8×32.9mm.

With a flange back of just 26.7mm, it can get its rear elements as close as 16.7mm to the sensor to maintain almost parallel light rays that will interact with the pixels without producing vignetting or false colour – as it does with the X series.

The company chose the mirrorless route to allow it to create a small body – it says the GFX 50S is smaller than a pro full frame DSLR to maximise resolution by avoiding the disruption of mirror vibrations.

The camera instead uses a focal plane shutter that allows speeds of up to 1/4000sec.

The camera will feature HDMI out and will be set-up for tethered shooting by the time it is released, according to Fujifilm.

The six lenses the company plans to launch are:

GF63mm f/2.8 R WR (equivalent to 50mm)

GF32-64mm f/4 R LM WR (25-51mm)

GF120mm f/4 Macro R LM OIS WR (95mm)

GF110mm f/2 R LM WR (87mm)

GF23mm f/4 R LM WR (18mm)

GF45mm f/2.8 R WR (35mm)

All the lenses are weather resistant and feature an aperture ring that allows both manual and automatic adjustment positions.

An interesting accessory on show at the launch was a rotation electronic viewfinder that allows waist-level finding and that can rotate like a tank turret. The camera can be held at 90° to the face while the user can still see through the finder.

Fuji hasn’t released any pricing yet, but the company has said the camera will cost ‘way less than $10,000’.

In a statement, the company said it had pooled its years of experience in both analogue and digital development.

“As a long-term manufacturer of photographic films and medium-format film cameras, Fujifilm was always aware of the impact which different format sizes have on photographic expressions.

Using a larger format gives ultimate enhancement to a camera’s ability to capture ‘texture quality’, ‘stereoscopic effect’ and ‘aerial feeling’, which cannot be attained even by substantially increasing the sensor’s pixel count.

Since the launch of the X Series, an increasing number of professional photographers and photo enthusiasts expressed their desire to achieve the ultimate world of photographic expression with the X Series’ signature colour reproduction. The GFX camera system with G Format is Fujifilm’s response to their desire.